Improvement in apparatus for clasping hoop-skirts



OHAUNOEY L. OLMSTEAD, OF BROOKLYN, NEW YORK.

IMPROVEMENT IN APPARATUS FOR CLASPING HooP-sKiR'i-s.

Specification forming part of Letters Patent No. 50,728, dated October3l, 1865- To all 'whom it may concern Beit known thatl, CHAUNCEY L.OLMsTEAD, of Brooklyn, in the county of Kings and State of New York,have invented certain new and useful Improvements in Apparatus forClasping Hoops to Hoop-Skirts and similar Articles 5 and I do herebydeclare that the'following is a full, clear, and exact description of mysaid invention, reference being had to the accompanying drawings, inwhich- Figure l represents a vertical longitudinal section of a part ofa hoop-clasping machine with my improvements applied thereto. Fig. 2represents a top view ot' a part of the machine, looked at in thedirection of' the arrow a, Fig. l; and Fig. 3 represents a transversesection of a part ofthe machine at the line xx ot' Fig. 2, seen in thedirection ofthe arrow b.

My improvements relate to the feed mechanism ot hoop-clasping machines.In such machines 4the clasps are placed promiscuously in aslightly-inclined pan-hopper, from which the jar of the machine causesthem to escape and pass to the upper end of an inclined feedingplate,down which they slide to the clasp-supplying device, which holds them inline and supplies them in succession to the clasping mechanism. Duringthe passage of the clasps down the inclined feeding-plate they come incontact with inclined directing-bars, whose function is to cause theclasps to arrange themselves, with their tongues, in the properpositions they are to occupy in order to be received into theclasp-supplying device. The operation of such bars has been found byexperience to be inadequate tothe requirements of the machine, and,besides, many clasps which do not attain their proper positions passover the entrance ofthe feed-supplying device and are scattered on theiloor, thus occasioning material loss.

The object of my improvements is to render the delivery of the clasps tothe clasp-supplying` device more certain and to lessen the loss ot'clasps.

To this end the i'rst part of my improvement consists ofthe combinationofthe feeding-plate with what I term a needle, consisting of a thinpointed rod secured to the feeding-plate in advance of the passage tothe feed-supplying device, with its point extending toward theclasp-hopper, so as to act upon the clasps as they descend and permitsuch only as have attained the requisite position to pass into thefeed-supplying device.

rlhe second part ot' my invention consists of the combination otthefeeding-plate with a gate placed in the passage to the feed-supplyingdevice, and having an opening in it to per,- mit the clasps which havebeen properly arranged to escape one at a time, but closing theremainder of the passage in such manner as to prevent the escape ofmisarranged clasps and insure their delivery through an openingcommunicating with a receptacle in which they are caught.

As the construction, arrangement, and mode of operation otmachines forclasping hoops to hoop-skirts are well understood, I do not deem itnecessary to represent and describe a complete machine, but I haverepresented in my drawings all the parts of the machine to which myinvention appertains. The remaining parts ofthe machine maybeconstructed as described in the Patent No. 37,124, granted to JedediahWilcox, assignee ot' Joseph H. Baird, the 9th day of December, 1862.

The hopper A of the machine consists ot' a shallow pan, slightly'inclined and having an opening, d, at its lowest part, from which theclasps escape by the jar of the machine and pass to the feeding-plate B.The feeding-plate is inclined in the usual manner. It is litted at oneside with a bar, C, which prevents the escape of clasps, and at theother with an inclined guide-bar, D, having a groove or opening at itslower side to admit the flanges of the clasp, and so located in respectto the opening ofthe hopper from which the clasps escape that they comein contact with it, and by sliding down in such contact are caused toarrange themselves with their tongues in proper positions to enter theclasp-supplying device E. The side bar, O, and guide-bar D converge, sothat their lower ends form a narrow passage through which the claspspass to the entrance l the two. Hence, as the clasps pass down thefeed-plate in contact with the guide-bar D, such as have been properlyarranged enter readily the channel-way between the point of the needle mand the guide -bar D, while the bulk of the misarranged clasps aredirected away from the guide-bar by the point of the needle and passthrough the escape-slot f to the spout G leading to the catch-box H.Occasionally a misarranged clasp may escape the action of the needle,but this is a rare exception to the general rule.

In order that the misarranged clasps may not pass through the passagebetween the side bar, C, and guide-bar D and fall to the Hoor, a gate,7i, is applied to this passage. This gate crosses the passage at anangle, so as to direct such clasps as pass over the needle m into theescape-slotf, butit has an opening, e,

GHAUNCEY L. OLMSTEAD.

Witnesses:

E. S. RENNrcH, W. L. BENNEM.

